The 1985 Mexico City earthquake was one of the most devastating earthquakes in the history of the Americas. On Thursday, September 19, 1985, at 7:19 am. local time, Mexico City was struck by an earthquake of magnitude 8.1 on the Richter scale. The epicenter of the earthquake was off the Pacific coast of the Mexican state of Michoacán, a distance of 350 km, in the Cocos Plate subduction zone. It was felt as far away as Los Angeles, California.
Historic Earthquakes Chile 1960 May 22 19:11:14 UTC Magnitude 9.5 The Largest Earthquake in the World Articles N.B. : The magnitude for this earthquake has been recalculated since the following articles were written. Magnitude 9.5 is a better determination of the size of this earthquake. More than 2,000 killed, 3,000 injured, 2,000,000 homeless, and $550 million damage in southern Chile; tsunami caused 61 deaths, $75 million damage in Hawaii; 138 deaths and $50 million damge in Japan; 32 dead and missing in the Phillippines; and $500,000 damage to the west coast of the United States. Abridged from United States Earthquakes 1960, by H. Carroll Talley, Jr. and William K. Cloud.
At approximately 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906 the city of San Francisco was struck by a 7.9 magnitude earthquake! The main shock occurred offshore about 2 miles out. The earthquake happened along the San Andreas Fault line, and the shock was felt from Oregon to Los Angeles. The earthquake was extremely catastrophic which also resulted in fires. This earthquake is remembered as one of the most destructive natural disasters next to the Galveston hurricane of 1900, and hurricane Katrina of 2005.
3. California has 2 or 3 earthquakes each year that are powerful enough to damage structures (5.5+ on the Richter scale) 4. Studies of their frequency and magnitude of past earthquakes show that there’s a good chance of an earthquake of magnitude 7.0+ hitting the San Francisco Bay area before 2025. 5. Past disasters include the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 (magnitude 7.8) which along with subsequent fires destroyed much of the city.
Ocean waves peaked at 100 feet, the height of 10-story buildings. Waves 30 feet high battered the New England coast, destroying 200 homes. Nine people died, including the six-man crew of a swordfish boat from Gloucester, Massachusetts. (CNN.com) Not only was a book wrote about this event, they later made a movie about too. But in spite of such amazing events in history caused by
Haiti Earthquake, January 2010 Terrah-Leigh Ann Pietersen On the 12th of January, 2010, an earthquake struck Haiti which measured up to 7.0 on the Richter scale. This caused an estimate of 230, 000 to 316, and 000 to have died. The earthquake was produced form the fault line that separates the Caribbean tectonic plate from the North American plate. The fault line ran from east to west. It was miles away from the capital called Port au Prince.
Trevor Palmer 4/30/14 5th Period 1960 Chilean & Japanese Tsunami Natural disasters can happen at any moment, ranging from the most deadly to just minor natural disaster, but on this day in May of 1960 something happened that will never be forgotten. They say it was the largest earthquake that ever happened off the coast of Chile and because of that a tsunami happened also. According to the Natural Disaster Organization “the earthquake hit at 7:11 pm approximately 100 miles off the coast of Chile”. The shock of the earthquake had a large magnitude of at most 9.5, this goes without saying that there were warnings of this going to happen the day before. The deadly earthquake caused a large amount of damage and death in the country and in the pacific coastal areas.
Eruption of Mount St. Helens 1980 On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted and killed fifty-seven people. This was the most recent earthquake in the main forty-eight states since 1915. Mount St. Helens is a stratovolcano located in the state of Washington. A stratovolcano is made up of hardened pumice and lava. Before 1980, the last eruption of Mount St. Helens was between 1840 and 1850.
8 H October 26, 2012 1886 Charleston Earthquake In Charleston August 31, 1886, a devastating earthquake shocked millions throughout the country. Not only was this earthquake reported in South Carolina, but in distant places such as Boston, Massachusetts, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Chicago, Illinois, Cuba, Bermuda, and many more. Why so many places? The earthquake recorded a 7.4 on the Richter scale. This tells us that it’s a powerful earthquake, reaching and being felt by farther away places.
Japan is well known for being particularly amenable to subduction zone earthquakes, with huge pressures brought to bear by the sticking tectonic plate zones nearby it, and the slipping results in many earthquakes, some of them very big for instance the Tohoku earthquake. The Tohoku earthquake of March 11, 2011 also referred to as the Great East Japan Earthquake in Japan was one of the most powerful earthquakes that ever hit Japan and worldwide it’s recorded as the fifth most powerful earth quake. The earthquake triggered powerful tsunami waves that resulted into 15,883 deaths, 6,149injured and 2,652 people missing. The earthquake occurred in the north-western Pacific Ocean and lasted for approximately 6minutes. Initially, the earthquake was reported as having a 7.9magnitude (MW) and later it was raised to 8.8 then 8.9MW and finally to 9.0MW.